A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas. Balloons typically have a printed display on the outside surface of the bag for decorative purposes.
These printed displays usually comprise an image printed on a panel or other substrate. When the balloon is lit from the outside, the printed image can be viewed. In some cases, the panel or substrate may be inherently coloured and the presence or absence of printing over part of the panel or substrate may add to the visual effect.
In other circumstances, where the substrate or panel is transparent or translucent, the display panel or substrate can be lit from inside the balloon. This can provide for efficient illumination in low light settings. One example of such a display would be an image printed on a balloon formed from a transparent or translucent plastic. In this case, a shadow image layer may be printed on the inside surface of the display so that a negative image of the shadow image layer is projected on to the outside surface. Nevertheless, balloons having known displays all provide a substantially similar appearance when illuminated from inside or outside the balloon.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a balloon comprising a printed display that is adapted to provide a different appearance when lit under different lighting conditions.